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Microfiche 

Series. 


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Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


D 
D 


D 


D 


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Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couieur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommag6e 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculde 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographlques  en  couieur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couieur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


□   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couieur 

□    Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avac  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

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II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
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mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
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Commentaires  suppl^mentaires; 


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point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


The< 
toth 


□   Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couieur 


n 

D 


D 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

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ITT]    Showthrough/ 


Transparence 


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I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

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slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  nne  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  film^es  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

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12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

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Tlie  copy  fiimod  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Pubiic 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  In  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  In  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


t 
ides 


L'exempiaire  fiimA  fut  reproduit  grice  h  la 
gAntrositi  de: 

La  bibiiothdque  des  Archives 
pubiiques  du  Canada 

Les  Images  suivantes  ont  txh  reproduites  avec  ie 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exempiaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fiimage. 

Les  exemplalres  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  Imprimte  sont  fiimis  en  commen9ant 
par  Ie  premier  plat  «t  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniire  oage  qui  cornporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'iilustration,  soit  par  Ie  second 
plat,  selon  Ie  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempiaires 
originaux  sont  fiimds  en  commenpant  par  ia 
premiere  page  qui  cornporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'iilustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  ▼  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  ia 
dernlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  ie 
cas:  Ie  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


ire 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
f ilm6s  k  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  11  est  fiim6  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rleur  gauche,  de  gauche  k  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'Images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  ia  mdthode. 


>y  errata 
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ne  pelure, 

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1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

NOTES 


ON  THE 


UNITED  STATES 


OF 


AMERICA. 


PHILADELPHIA. 

rKINTES    AT    THX    OTFICE    OF    THE    VMITSD   STATES 

6AZETTC. 

1806. 


ip 


\  \ 


1       i 


Monday  morning f  nth  Nov*  1806. 

My  dear  Sir, 

IN  answer  to  your  inquiries  resp-^cting 
the  United  States  of  America,  I  send  ou  the 
enclosed  notes  which  you  may  communicate  to 
any  of  your  friends  who  may  be  prompted  by 
curiosity  or  interest  to  seek  information  on  the 
subjects  to  which  you  referred.  You  will, 
however,  take  notice,  that  I  do  not  aspire  at 
the  character  of  an  author,  and  therefore  the 
hints  now  sent  are  not  to  be  published. 

I  am, 

With  esteem  and  respect. 
Your  obedient  servant. 


I 


IH 


i 


1 


NOTES,  esfc. 


:■! 


1 


BETWEEN  the  high  colouring  of  exag- 
geration  and  the  dark  shade  of  detraction,  it 
may  be  difficult  to  discern  the  truth  in  what  re- 
lates to  America.  Not  only  the  manners,  which 
travellers  estimate,  as  usual,  by  comparison  with 
their  own,  have  been  exalted  by  some  to  the 
innocenc  of  paradise  and  degraded  by  others 
to  the  corruptions  of  a  brothel ;  but  things 
which  admit  of  more  easy  and  accurate  esti- 
mation, even  the  soil  and  climate,  have  been 
represented  as  variously  as  the  temper,  genius, 
and  manners  of  the  people. 


NOTES  OM  THE 


**  I  am  sorry,  Sir,  you  kept  such  bad  com- 
pany in  Spain,"  said  a  gentleman  in  Paris  to 
one  who  indulged  himself  in  the  ridicule  of 
Spanish  customs.  This  flippant  reply  might 
be  made  to  certain  descriptions  of  American 
society,  which  border  on  caricature.  But 
instead  of  resorting  to  repartee,  which  would 
here  be  misplaced,  it  seems  proper  to  remark, 
that  when  strangers  undertake  to  delineate  the 
character  of  a  nation  from  what  they  meet  with 
in  trading  towns,  great  part  of  whose  inhabi- 
tants are  (like  themselves)  strangers,  the  por- 
trait, however  excellent  in  colour  and  expres- 
sion, will  liardly  possess  the  merit  of  a  good 
likeness.  These  painters  should  consider  that 
a  miin  who  has  a  proper  regard  for  his  own 
character  would  be  restrained  from  such  great 
incongruity,  if  not  by  candour,  at  Least  by 
common  sense.  They  should  consider  too 
tlmt  customs  aiid  manners  must  be  taken  toge- 
tlier  by  him  who  would  estimate  them  justly ; 
because  the  best,  when  viewed  in  detail,  may 
be  made  a  subject  of  blame  or  ridicule.     Fi- 


lyitlTED  STATRS, 


mlly  they  should  know  that  long  residcr.cc  and 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  best  company 
are  pre-requisites  to  forming  a  just  opinion  and 
delineating  a  faithful  resemblanofe.  It  is  easy 
to  conceive  that  one  bred  in  the  politer  circle* 
of  London  might  not  be  pleased  with  the  man- 
ners of  Amsterdam,  Hamburgh,  or  Philadel- 
phia. The  inhabitants  of  those  towns  have 
the  humility  to  believe  they  want  that  high 
polish  which  courts  alone  can  give.  But  what 
shall  be  said  of  youngsters  just  fledged  and  yet 
warm  from  the  nest  of  Cambridge  or  Oxford^ 
who  discover  in  the  best  company  of  Berlin  or 
Vienna  a  fund  of  contemptuous  merriment  f 
Who  consider  the  gentlemen  of  Germany  as 
bears,  and  those  of  France  as  monkiesi 
When  the  count  de  Laraguais  was  asked,  on 
his  return  from  England,  his  opinion  of  its 
produce  and  inhabitants,  he  exclaimed,  "  Ah 
"  c'est  le  pais  le  plus  drole  qu'  on  puisse  imagi- 
ner.  lis  ont  vingt  religions,  mais  ils  n'ont  qu* 
une  sauce.  Toutes  les  liqueurs  sont  aigres 
"  hormis  k  vinaigre.     lis  n»ont  de  fruit  m^ 


« 


it 


8 


NOTES  ON  THE 


"/ 


"  que  les  pommes  cuitcs,  et  de  poli  que 
"  I'acier.'*  "^Tis  the  strangest  place  you  can 
conceive.  They  have  twenty  religions  and  but 
one  sauce.  All  their  liquors  are  sour  except  the 
vinegar.  They  have  no  ripe  fruit  but  baked 
apples^  and  nothing  polished  but  steel. 

It  would  be  well  that  this  speech  were 
printed  on  the  title  page  of  some  books  of 
travels  in  America  which  Englishmen  have 
published,  and  in  which  (with  no  evil  intention 
perhaps,  but  merely  to  display  their  genius  and 
national  superiority)  they  have  degraded  Ame- 
ricans  below  the  most  vile  and  vicious  in  Eu- 
rope. That  we,  like  others,  have  too  good  an 
opinion  of  ourselves  may  be  true ;  but  foreign- 
ers who  on  this  ground  charge  us  with  ridicu- 
lous vanity  should  recollect  the  decision  on  a 
memorable  occasion.  **  Let  him  who  is  guilt- 
**  less  cast  the  first  stone.'*  It  may  also  be 
true  that  we  have  in  the  north  the  vices  attached 
to  commerce,  and  in  the  south  those  which 
result  from  domestick  slavery ;  but  we  have 


I 


UNITED    STATES. 


the  virtues  which  arise  out  cf  those  conditions. 
He  who  travels  through  this  extensive  country, 
picking  up  rare  incidents  to  pourtray  manners 
in  which  the  meanness  of  a  Dutch  huckster 
shall  be  combined  with  the  profligacy  of  a 
Polish  lord,  may  gratulate  himself  on  the  col- 
lection of  materials  for  a  biting  satire.  But 
should  he  put  them  together  and  publish  the 
patchwork,  it  would  perish  before  his  eyes 
by  the  mortal  disease  of  self  contradiction. 
The  American  who  claims  for  his  country  a 
proud  exemption  from  the  ills  attached  to 
humanity  is  less  to  be  applauded  for  his  zeal 
than  pitied  for  his  folly.  Truth,  however,  will 
warrant  the  assertion,  that  our  vices  are  not  so 
great  as  might  be  expected  from  our  condition. 
The  Virginian  is  not  cruel :  the  Yankee  is  not 
dishonest :  the  spirit  of  commerce  has  not  de- 
stroyed the  charities  of  life,  and  taken  in  the 
aggregate  there  is  as  fair  a  proportion  of  genius, 
virtue,  and  politeness  in  America  as  in  Europe. 
Particular  comparisons  would  be  invidious. 
There  is,  however,  one  general  trait  which  must 

B 


1 


10 


NOTES  ON   THE 


.!* 


strike  the  most  cursory  observer.  The  stran- 
ger of  every  country  is  'received  here  with 
frankness  and  cordiality.  He  cannot,  indeed, 
enjoy  the  venal  respect  of  an  inn,  but  may  on 
the  contrary  be  offended  by  a  surly  manner, 
amounting,  sometimes,  to  downright  rudeness : 
for  American  tavern  keepers  too  often  take 
occasion  to  display  their  pride  (which  they 
falsely  consider  as  a  mark  of  freedom)  to  guests- 
whom  they  are  bound  by  duty  as  well  as  interest 
to  serve  and  to  please.  No  man  of  sound 
mind  will  defend  or  attempt  to  excuse  this- 
conduct  which  is  equally  ridiculous  and  bru- 
tal ;  but  it  may  be  accounted  for  by  a  simple 
fact.  In  the  early  settlement  of  a  country,  few 
are  wealtliy  enough  to  keep  an  inn.  Those  - 
few  being  of  what  the  French  would  call  les 
«or^^/«  are  persons  of  higher  standing  in  so- 
ciety than  the  greater , part  of  their  guests.  The 
commercial  spirit  has  not  yet  bent  their  pride ; 
but  it  will  eventually,  as  in  other  countries, 
smooth  the  supercilious  brow  into  a  smile  of 
wejcpme*     Each  reserving,  as  in  other  coun- 


J 


^ 


f^i 


UNITED  STATES* 


11 


tries,  the  right  to  compensate  his  cringes  to  the 
rich  by  his  contumely  to  the  poor.  Another 
disgusting  trait  of  American  manners  is  the 
insolent  familiarity  of  the  vulgar.  But  this 
does  not  arise  from  the  greater  stock  of  imper- 
tinence in  our  blackguards,  but  from  the  want 
of  those  restraints  which  they  feel  elsewhere. 
Let  it,  however,  be  observed,  that  the  insolence 
complained  of  is  perceivable  only  in  the  lowest, 
worst  educated,  and  truly  contemptible  part  of 
the  people,  or  rather  (to  speak  correctly)  of 
the  populace.  Secondly,  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  that  populace  is  made  up  of  imported 
patriots,  the  offcast  and  scum  of  other  countries. 
And,  thirdly,  that  these  wretches  abuse  a  mo- 
mentary consequence,  arising  from  the  dearth 
4>jr  labour,  to  supply  the  increased  and  increa- 
sing demand  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and 
trade.  When  peace  shall  confine  commerce 
to  its  former  channel,  such  fellows  must  take 
their  flight  or  model  themselves  to  the  respect- 
ful demeanour  which  distin^ishes  the  real  pco- 
p\t  of  America :  than  whom  lione  are  more 


12 


NOTES  ON  THE 


civil  and  obliging  when  fairly  treated.  But  he 
who  displays  in  this  country  the  insolence  of 
an  upstart  will  surely  meet  with  mortifica- 
tion. 

There  is  one  striking  characteristick  in 
the  manners  of  America,  which  is  generally  in- 
teresting.    A  traveller  who  would  be  intro- 
duced into  the  first  companies  of  Europe, 
bating  the  case  of  uncommon  merit  or  peculiar 
felicity,  must  show  his  stars,  his  ribbands,  his 
military  commission  or  noble  descent.    Above 
all,  he  must  not  show  that  he  is  a  merchant  or 
mechanick.     But  in  America  these  passports 
and  precautions  are  alike  unnecessary.     He 
who  behaves  himself  well  will  be  well  received. 
He  will  be  estimated  at  what  he  is  worth.    His 
money,  if  he  has  any,  will  procure  him  as 
much  respect  as  elsewhere,  provided  no  glaring 
vice  or  folly  destroy  its  influence.     Even  then 
he  may  in  America,  as  elsewhere,  find  societies 
to  receive  him  when  repelled  by  those  who 
respect  themselves.    He  will  be  estimated  at 


UWITED  STATES 


IS 


what  he  is  worth,  and  if  he  has  merit,  the 
honours  and  offices  of  the  country  are  open  to 
him. 


The  extent  of  the  United  States  renders 
it  impossible  to  speak  of  the  climate  but  in 
reference  to  particular  parts.  It  is  so  various 
that  amateurs  can  please  themselves.  The 
Province  of  Maine  offers  to  them  the  fogs  of 
Britain,  and  by  visiting  Georgia  they  may  bask 
in  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone.  But,  cries  an 
Englishman,  have  you  any  where  a  temperate 
climate.  By  this,  especially  if  he  comes  from 
Lancashire,  is  meant  a  climate  in  which  it 
would  be  difficult,  but  for  the  relative  length  of 
days  and  nights,  to  distinguish  winter  from 
summer,  and  in  which  it  rains  four  days  out 
of  five.  Those  who  seek  such  climate  in 
America  must  go  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Nootka  Sound.  But  if  by  a  temperate  climate 
be  meant  an  atmosphere  warm  enough  in  sum- 
mer to  ripen  every  fruit  not  peculiar  to  the 
tropicks,  without  that  intensity  of  heat  unfa- 


•t 


14 


NOTES  ON  THE 


Si 

ill 


vourable    to    health  and  industry,  a  climate 
not  so  cold  in  winter  as  to  destroy  the  cherry, 
apricot,  or  peach  tree,  yet  cold  enough  to  g^ve 
the  earth  repose  from  vegetation,  and  provide 
ice  for  the  succeeding  summer ;  that  climate  is 
found  in  the  middle  states  of  America.     The 
winter  along  the  sea  coast,  commencing  about 
the  middle  of  December  and  continuing  to  the 
middle  of  March,  is  variable.     Sudden  thaws 
are  succeeded  by  sudden  frosts.     A  south- 
east wind  brings  vernal  air  from  the  Gulph 
Stream,  and  a  north-wester  pours  down  frost 
from  the  mountains.  Beyond  these  mountains, 
however,  the  cold  is  steady  and  not  severe. 
From  the  middle  of  March  to  the  middle  or  end 
of  April,  the  weather,  generally  bad,  is  some- 
times fine  enough  to  deserve  the  name  it  bears 
of  spring.    May,  though  cloathed  in  blossoms, 
and  sometimes  in  the  beginning  bound  by 
frost,  may  generally  be  .ranked  among  the 
summer  months,   and  September  has  equal 
rights,  although  sometimes  a  slight  frost  sup- 
ports the  clium  of  autumn.     Thus  the  slimmer 


UNITED  STATES. 


15 


is  nearly  five  months  long,  and  in  that  period 
five  to  fifteen  days  may  be  expected  uncom- 
fortably warm.  The  months  of  October,  No- 
vember, and  great  part  of  December,  are  fine. 
No  man  who  has  not  enjoyed  the  autumn  of 
North  America  can  form  an  idea  of  weather  so 
constantly  pleasant.  But  the  climate  is  change- 
able, say  Europeans,  2iXi6.  therefore  unhealthy  : 
to  which  it  might  be  tritely  replied,  the  climate 
is  healthy,  and  therefore  not  changeable.  All 
things  figure  by  comparison.  Climate  among 
the  rest.  An  insular  position,  especially  if  the 
island  be  small,  free  from  mountains,  and  far 
from  any  continent,  secures  an  equable;  tem- 
perature of  the  air.  But  if  there  be  no  sudden 
changes  of  heat  andcold,  there  are  frequent 
variations  of  another  sorti  Almost  every  wind 
brings  rain  or  damp,^  drizzling,  disagreeable 
weather.  Such  weather  is  scarcely  known  in  the 
middle  states,  of  America.  It  rains  ^nd  snows 
in  eamestf  after' which  the  atmosphere  resumes 
its  usual  brilliance*  That  the  climate  is  fa- 
vourable to  human  life  is  proved  by  the  rapi- 


16 


NOTES  ON  THE 


I  M 


II 


dity  of  population  ;  to  which  emigrations  from 
Europe  do  indeed  contribute,  but  in  such  small 
proportion  as  to  be  scarcely  worth  notice.  The 
instances  of  healthy  old  age  are  no  where  more 
numerous.  They  who  contradict  this  fact  in- 
sist that  the  proportion  of  those  in  America 
who  reach  the  age  of  eighty  is  much  smaller 
than  in  Europe.  This  remains  to  be  proved. 
But  if  admitted,  let  it  be  considered  that  the 
population  of  Europe  has  increased  but  little 
in  eighty  years,  whereas  that  of  America,  dou- 
bling in  twenty  years,  was  not,  eighty  years  ago 
more  than  one  sixteenth  of  the  present  number. 
Europe  therefore  ought  to  show  sixteen  times 
as  many  old  men  as  America.  To  say  that  a 
climate  is  variable  can  form  no  objection  unless 
the  supposed  mutability  be  injurious  to  health 
or  vegetation.  But  if  we  descend  from  animal 
to  vegetable  life,  the  advantage  of  America 
over  Europe  is  unquestionable ;  for  there  it  is 
common  to  loose  the  fruit  by  unseasonable 
weather,  a  thing  which  rarely  happens  here. 


UNITED  STATES. 


17 


Of  the  American  soil  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  justly  without  being  very  minute.  There 
is,  perhaps,  none  quite  so  bad  as  the  heaths  of 
Brabant,  Westphalia,  and  lower  Saxony,  There 
is  a  great  deal  very  good — some  fields  unex- 
hausted by  the  constant  harvests  of  a  century 
without  manure.  To  speak,  however,  as  nearly 
as  may  be  in  general  terms,  if  beginning  where 
Hudson's  River  enters  the  sea,  a  line  running 
south  of  Philadelphia  along  the  falls  of  Susque- 
hannah,  Potomack,  and  Rapahanock  be  con- 
tinued through  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Georgia,  the  lands  east  of  it  are  of 
indifferent  quality,   although  there  be  many 
large  tracts  of  excellent  soil.     West  of  this 
line  to  the  mountains  the  land  is  generally 
good,  but  yet  large  tracts  may  be  found  which 
are  bad.     From  New  York  to  Boston  the  land 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  is  rocky, 
and  in  some  places  the  soil,  generally  fruitful,  is 
meagre.     There  are  fine  vallies  between  the 
different  ranges  of  mountains,  and  some  of  the 

mountains  have  excellent  soil  to  the  top.     The 

e 


18 


NOTES  ON    THE 


It 


III 


ih 


great  western  valley  from  Quebeck  to  New 
Orleans,  is  perhaps  unequalled  for  extent  and 
fertility.     In  ascending  the  St.  Laurence  and 
descending  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio,  the  moun- 
tains on  the  left  recede,  and  at  length  subside  : 
those  on  the  right  lie  at  a  vast  distance  beyond 
the  western    shore    of    the   lakes.      At  the 
head  of  the  St.  Laurence  is  that  congeries  of 
inland  seas,  whose  waters,  almost  as  trans- 
parent as  air,  preserve  in  this  majestick  stream 
its  constant  fulness.     Those  lakes,  of  which 
Ontario,  the  last,  and  by  no  means  the  lar- 
gest, presents  a  surface  of  more  than  five  thou- 
sand square  miles,  are  of  such  vast  extent, 
that  no  supposable  quantity  of  rain  can  make 
any  important  change.  Moreover,  all  the  rivers 
they  receive  would  not  supply  in  a  year  the 
waste  by  evaporation  in  a  month.     They  are 
unquestionably  fed  by  springs,  and  as  their 
surface  varies  very  litde,  so  the  supply  of  water 
which  they  pour  into  the  St.  Laurence  is  con- 
stant. Many  considerable  streams  which  some- 
times overflow  and  are  at  other  times  much 


UNITED  STATES. 


19 


reduced,  flow  into  that  river ;  but  the  amount 
of  what  they  furnish  is  so  small  compared  with 
the  volume  from  Lake  Ontario,  that  in  a  space 
of  fifty  leagues  from  Cadaraqui  to  the  mouth  of 
Attawa  River,  the  depth  of  water  seldom  varies 
a  foot  in  a  year. 

The  climate  of  this  immense  valley  is  un- 
commonly regular,  fenced  by  a  broad  rampart 
of  mountains  against  the  mutability  of  the 
ocean,  its  seasons  are  determined  by  the  ad- 
vance and  recess  of  the  sun ;  and  as  causes 
must  precede  effects,  the  warmth  of  spring  in 
the  latitude  of  forty. five  (which  is  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States)  is  seldom  com- 
pletely established  before  the  first  of  May, 
neither  does  the  cold  reign  of  winter  commence 
until  the  middle  or  end  of  November.  A 
recent  fact  deserves  to  be  noted  here.  During 
the  storm  which  on  the  23d  and  24th  of  last 
August  made  such  dreadful  ravage  along  the 
sea  coast  from  New  Hampshire  to  Georgia,  it 
was  (beyond  the  first  range  of  mountains)  calm 


I'  I 


,^ 


20 


NOTES  ON   THI 


I 


m 


and  pleasant.  In  going  from  St.  Regis  south- 
wardly up  the  river  for  forty  miles,  there  is 
little  cliange  of  latitude  or  climate :  but  there, 
having  ascended  the  rapids,  the  influence  of  the 
lakes  becomes  perceptible.  The  winter  is  less 
cold  and  the  summer  more  mild.  Keeping 
on  east  of  the  lakes  for  about  five  hundred 
miles  through  eight  degrees  of  longitude  and 
three  of  latitude,  the  climate  is  nearly  the 
same.  All  the  fruits  of  a  temperate  climate 
flourish  and  come-  to  great  perfection  in  the 
open  air  except  the  peach,  which  has  not  yet 
succeeded  beyond  the  latitude  of  Niagara,  but 
at  that  place  it  is  abundant.  After  getting  on 
further  south  and  losing  the  influence  of  the 
lakes,  the  climate  is  governed  by  the  latitude, 
till  at  length,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New 
Orleans,  are  found  the  orange  and  sugar  cane. 


Some  credulous  people,  seduced  by  flat- 
tering descriptions  of  America,  have  been  led 
into  ruinous  speculations.  They  rashly  sup- 
posed that  man  could  here,  as  m  a  terrestrial  pa- 


's 


ITMITXD  tTATXS. 


21 


i^ 


radise,  live  without  labour  and  without  law. 
These  were  the  dreams  of  unripe  judgment, 
and  these  were  not  the  only  illusions.  It  may 
dissipate  some  of  them  to  inform  Europeans 
that  in  America  the  professions  of  law,  physick 
and  divinity,  are  fully  supplied.  That  the  ar% 
of  trading  with  small  capital  or  no  capital,  is 
well  understood.  That  the  fine  arts,  little  cul- 
tivated, receive  but  small  encouragement. 
That  those  who  wander  from  the  path  of  indus- 
try will  soon  be  entangled  by  want.  That 
thoj?e  who  expect  to  live  by  contrivance  will 
be  greatly  disappointed.  The  market  is  already 
overstocked  with  that  commodity.  Labourers 
and  mechanicks  cannot  f^ul  of  success  if  they 
be  sober,  honest,  industrious  and  steady.  But 
such  men  seldom  emigrate.  The  idle  and 
dissolute  are  better  pleased  than  at  home,  be- 
cause wages  are  high,  and  ardent  spirits  cheap, 
so  that  with  tolerable  management  they  can  be 
drunk  three  days  in  the  week.  But  this  rogue's 
jubilee  is  almost  over.  The  great  demand  for 
labour  must  cease  wUh  the  war ;  and  even 


I 


22 


NOTES  Olf  THE 


while  it  lasts  it  would  be  better  for  such  fellows 
to  enlist  in  Europe.  They  can  be  as  idle, 
will  enjoy  better  health,  and  may  live  longer; 
for  rum  and  whiskey  are  as  fatal  as  the  gun  and 
bayonet.  We  frequently  see  an  old  soldier, 
but  an  old  sot  is  very  rare. 


I 


The  influence  of  exaggerated  description 
has  in  nothing  been  greater  than  in  what  relates 
to  the  land  of  America.  Those  awful  forests 
which  have  shaded  through  untold  ages  a 
boundless  extent;  those  streams,  compared 
to  which  the  rivers  of  Europe  are  but  rills, 
streams  which,  deep  and  smooth,  meander 
many  hundred  leagues  through  a  soil  waiting 
only  the  hand  of  culture  to  produce  luxuriant 
abundance ;  those  forests,  streams  and  plains, 
dazzled  the  eye  of  reason  and  led  the  judg- 
ment astray.  It  should  have  been  considered 
that  great  labour  njust  be  applied  to  destroy 
the  forest  before  it  can  yield  a  harvest.  That 
harvest  too  must  with  labour  be  gathered  and 
prepared  for  market.     At  length  embarked  on 


UNITED    STATES. 


2S 


the  bosom  of  the  flood,  it  must  traverse  exten- 
sive regions  before  it  can  be  sold.  It  must 
pay  (in  freight)  not  only  the  expense  of  a  voy- 
age to  the  sea,  but  that  of  the  boatmen  on  their 
return.  Foreign  articles  also  must  bear  a  great 
charge  of  transportation  ;  so  that  if  the  inhabi- 
tants can  obtain  from  their  produce  tlie  supply 
of  their  wants,  little  if  any  thing  will  remaifi  to 
pay  for  land.  He,  therefore,  who  traces  along 
the  map  the  course  of  those  majestick  rivers 
should  calculate  a  little  before  he  counts  on  the 
advantage  of  their  downhill  navigation.  The 
time  will  come,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  remote, 
when  manufacturing  to^^Tis  will  be  established 
in  those  regions.  The  produce  of  the  farmer 
will  be  then  consumed  by  the  artisan,  and  the 
articles  he  prepares  will  be  used  by  those  who 
till  the  soil.  An  intercourse  more  certain  and 
more  lucrative  than  foreign  trade.  But  until 
that  period  arrives,  every  proposition  respect- 
ing the  western  country  should  be  examined 
with  great  sobriety. 


f 


34 


NOTES  ON  THE 


«: 


Here  the  question  may  be  asked,  if  it  is  in 
no  case  advisable  to  purchase  American  lands ; 
and  as  this  subject  may  hereafter  occupy  much 
of  publick  attention,  some  moments  bestowed 
on  it  may  not  be  misapplied.  Unquestionably 
the  lands  of  America  present  a  valuable  object 
to  those  who  are  in  condition  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  advantage,  provided  they  acquire 
the  needful  information  and  act  prudently. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  Not  much  more  than 
a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  land  of  America 
was  worth  little  or  nothing.  At  first  it  was 
worth  less  than  nothing,  for  the  original  settlers 
were  obliged  to  bring  with  them  not  only 
cloaths  and  tools,  but  food,  and  must  never- 
theless  have  perished  if  the  original  stock  of 
necessaries  had  not  been  frequently  replenished 
by  supplies  from  their  native  country.  Land 
was  then  given  away,  and  few  would  accept 
the  gift  coupled  with  the  condition  of  settle- 
ment. As  population  increased,  it  became  of 
more  value,  and  as  settlements  extended,  the 
value  advanced  slowly  at  first,  then  with  acce- 


I 


UNITED  STATES. 


25 


■ 


lerated  velocity,  so  that  in  tlie  last  ten  years  it 
has  been  greater  than  in  the  preceding  twenty. 
Several  causes  combine  to  produce  this  effect ; 
as  first  a  general  rise  in  the  price  of  all  commo- 
dities, or,  wliat  is  equivalent,  a  general  de- 
crease in  the  value  of  money  owing  to  an  in- 
crease of  the  quantity.  This,  liowever,  is  not 
so  great  as  many  have  imagined ;  for  the  price 
of  wheat  throughout  Europe,  during  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  has  been  on  an  average  about 
one  penny  sterling  a  pound,  and  nearly  as  dear 
in  the  last  period  of  twenty  years  as  in  the  first. 
The  expense  of  living  arises  in  some  degree 
from  taxes  imposed  on  consumption,  and 
partly  from  the  higlier  style  of  modern  house- 
keeping. Admitting,  however,  tlie  existence 
and  the  operation  of  this  general  cause,  a  re- 
sort must  be  had  to  others  more  efficient.  For 
the  better  understanding  of  these,  let  it  be  ob- 
served that,  from  the  progress  of  commerce 
and  the  useful  arts,  the  price  of  land  hjis  in- 
creased in  some  parts  of  Europe,  while  it 
declined  in  others  without  any  considerable 


D 


Hi 


26 


NOTES  ON   THE 


I 


change  in  the  state  of  population,  and  that  in 
general  where  population  has  increased  the 
value  of  lands  has  also  increased.  Thus  we 
have  three  distinct  causes,  commerce,  manu- 
factures, and  population.  These  are  perma- 
nent. Those  which  are  fortuitous  should  not 
be  noticed.  Now  these  permanent  causes  have 
been  more  developed  in  America  than  in  any 
other  country.  The  population  has  doubled 
every  twenty  years ;  the  progress  of  manufac- 
tures is  as  rapid  at  least ;  and  that  of  commerce 
is  equal  to  both.  The  increase  of  American 
manufactures  is  scarcely  suspected  abroad  or 
at  home :  but  forty  years  ago  hardly  an  axe  or 
a  scythe  was  made  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Atiantick.  Carriages  of  pleasure,  household 
furniture,  and  even  butter,  cheese,  and  salted 
provisions  were  imported.  Things  are  in  this 
respect  greatly  changed.  Much  is  exported 
of  the  articles  last  mentioned,  and  even  the 
manufacture  of  superfine  cloth,  now  in  its  in- 
fancy, bids  fair  to  become  extensive,  the  wool 
of  America  being  little    inferiour  to  that  of 


I 


UNITED   STATES. 


27 


Spain.  The  wide  range  of  our  commerce  is 
generally  known,  but  one  circumstance  which 
bears  on  the  present  object  must  not  be  omit- 
ted.  That  commerce,  which  twenty  years  ago 
was  wholly  supported  by  English  credit,  rests 
now  principally  on  American  capital,  which  is 
more  than  sufficient  for  the  trade  that  will  re- 
main at  a  general  peace.  To  apply  these  facts 
with  mathematical  precision  would  gratify  only 
inquisitive  minds  fond  of  nice  calculation,  and 
would  convert  this  hasty  sketch  from  loose 
hints  to  abstruse  speculation.  It  is  sufficient, 
on  the  present  occasion,  to  say  that  by  these 
causes  the  value  of  land  has  been  raised  and 
from  the  continuance  of  these  causes  must 
continue  to  rise.  Peace  must  operate  to  the 
same  end.  first,  by  lessening  the  demand  of 
money  to  support  commerce,  and  of  course 
leaving  more  for  the  purchase  and  improve- 
ment of  land;  secondly,  by  a  fall  in  the  price 
of  labour,  because  produce  being  the  result  of 
a  combination  between  land  and  labour,  the 
share  of  land  increases  in  proportion,  as  that  of 


ft 


28 


WOTES  ON  tHE 


labour  is  diminished ;  and  thirdly,  by  the  dimi- 
nution of  freight  and  ensurance,  which,  facili- 
tating the  interchange  of  articles,  foreign  and 
domestick,  gives  greater  intrinsick  value  to 
both.  Judicious  speculations  in  land  have 
yielded  more  in  the  last  ten  years  than  in  the 
twenty  preceding,  or  the  antecedent  forty. 
Hence  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  they  will 
continue  to  be  advantageous.  But  the  ques- 
tion occurs,  where  and  how  are  they  to  be 
made  ? 


Those  who  Would  derive  a  great  imme- 
diate revenue  from  land  should  purchase  in  the 
lower  parts  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  or 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans.  They  must 
purchase  slaves  also,  and  superintend  the  plant- 
ing of  cotton,  rice  and  sugar.  The  profit 
will  be  great  j  but  the  climate  is  not  favourable 
to  northern  constitutions;  tlie  culture  is  un- 
pleasant, and  there  are  some  inconveniences, 
such  as  occasional  hurricanes  and  the  danger 
to  be  apprehended  from  a  revolt  of  slaves. 


UNITED  STATES. 


29 


f 


This  culture,  moreover,  requires  previous  in- 
struction and  experience.  North  of  the  dis- 
trict just  mentioned)  little  revenue  can  be  de- 
rived from  land.  The  culture  by  slaves  in 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina,  sel- 
dom pays  five  per  cent,  on  the  capital  employed. 
But  in  these  states,  particularly  the  two  first, 
a  gentleman  who  wishes  to  enjoy  the  pleasures 
of  a  country  life,  coupled  with  its  cares,  who 
has  no  objection  to  become  the  master  of  slaves, 
and  can  submit  to  the  inconveniences  of  a 
warmer  summer  than  he  has  been  accustomed 
to  in  Europe,  with  the  consequent  defect  of 
verdure,  may  with  little  difficulty  discover  ex- 
cellent situations.  He  will  find  among  the 
gentlemen  honourable  temper,  liberal  man- 
ners, and  frank  hospitality ;  among  the  ladies 
beauty  and  accomplishment,  joined  to  virtue 
and  good  housewifery.  But  he  must  not  expect 
that  his  property  will  increase  in  value.  This 
Catmot  happen  until  the  labour  of  slaves  shall 
have  been  replaced  by  that  of  freemen,  a  period 
which  seems  to  be  remote. 


s.    f 


30 


NOTES  ON   THE 


I 


It  has  already  been  hinted  that  property  on 
the  rivers  which  empty  into  the  Mississippi 
cannot  attain  to  great  money  value  until  manu- 
facturing towns  shall  grow  up  in  that  quarter. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  American  cultiva- 
tor generally  pays  more  for  his  produce  in 
labour  than  in  the  price  of  land.  A  first  crop 
of  wheat  costs  about  twenty  dollars  per  acre, 
exclusive  of  the  land  on  which  it  is  raised. 
The  crop  in  countries  favourable  to  it  may  be 
taken  at  from  fifteen  to  five  and  thirty  bushels  : 
rarely  on  new  land  so  little  as  fifteen  and 
sometimes  more  than  forty.  It  is  evident  that 
the  expense  and  amount  of  a  crop  being  the 
same,  the  value  of  land  must  depend  on  the 
price  of  its  produce.  Where  wheat  sells  for  a 
dollar,  the  crop  usually  pays  for  both  clearing 
and  culture — frequently  for  the  land  and  some- 
times more  ;  but  when  it  will  not  bring  above 
a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  the  most  abundant  crop 
will  scarcely  defray  the  expense  of  tillage. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  if  this  great  western  re- 
gion were  as  favoun'ble  to  wheat  as  it  is  to  In- 


lir 


UNITED   STATES. 


31 


dian  corn,  it  must  lor  a  long  time  be  of  little 
value.  The  scene  for  advantageous  specula- 
tions in  land,  therefore,  is  confined  on  the  south 
by  the  southern  line  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
west  and  northwest  by  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, till  we  come  south  of  Niagara,  and  then 
by  Lake  Ontaf io,  and  the  river  St.  Laurence, 
and  on  the  north  by  the  boundary  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  From  this  tract,  however,  must 
be  excepted  the  province  of  Maine,  in  which, 
nevertheless,  there  are  said  to  be  some  tracts 
of  excellent  soil,  and  which  can  certainly  boast 
of  fine  harbours  and  fisheries.  But  taken  in 
general,  the  country  is  not  fertile,  and  the  cli- 
mate is  not  inviting,  wherefore  the  current  of 
emigration  from  New  England  sets  westward. 
The  northern  parts  of  New  Hampshire  are 
inclement  and  mountainous.  Good  land  there 
as  well  as  in  Vermont,  is  deai',  and  large  tracts 
of  it  are  not  to  be  purchased,  neither  are  such 
to  be  had  either  in  Massachussetts  or  Connecti- 
cut, which  states  are  so  full  of  people  that 
many  thousands  annually  emigrate.  Small  tracts 


I 


f 


ii'' 


32 


NOT£$  ON   THE 


may  be  found  which  from  the  populousness  of 
the  neighbourhood  will  yield  with  good  man- 
agement a  fair  rent.  Men  possessing  about 
ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  might  establish 
themselves  here,  but  not  before  they  have 
dwelt  long  enough  in  the  country  to  know  the 
usages,  manners,  and  disposition  of  the  inha- 
bitants as  well  as  the  climate,  soil  and  circum- 
stances peculiar  to  different  positions.  In  gene- 
ral, those  parts  of  Connecticut  and  Massachus- 
setts  which  border  on  New  York  would  be 
preferred ;  but  it  must  be  remarked  that  lands 
along  the  sound  bear  a  price  far  beyond  their 
value,  and  more  especially  those  near  the  city 
of  New  York.  North  of  Massachussetts  along 
Connecticut  river  there  is  a  charming  country, 
but  the  climate  becomes  harsh  in  going  north- 
ward, and  rising  at  the  same  time  to  a  greater 
elevation  from  the  level  of  the  sea.  Men  of 
the  property  abovementioned  might  perhaps 
find  a  few  good  positions  in  New  Jersey,  or 
the  cultivated  parts  of  Pennsylvania  or  New 
York.     But  in  none  of  these  places  is  there 


il 


UNITED  STATES 


33 


room  for  what  is  understood  in  America  by 
land  speculations.  They  must  be  confined  to 
the  unsettled  parts  of  Pennsylvania  or  New 
York.  Most  of  the  former  lie  west  of  the 
Alleghany,  and  the  remainder  consists  of  se- 
veral ranges  of  mountains  with  the  vallies  be- 
tween them.  These  mountains  are  in  general 
hi.];h,  rough,  and  not  unfrcquently  sterile.  The 
vallies  are  narrow,  and  the  access  to  them 
difficult,  The  land  beyond  the  mountains 
falls  under  the  general  description  of  that  which 
is  watered  by  the  western  streams,  although 
Pittsburg,  already  a  manufacturing  town,  gives 
value  to  the  neighbourhood.  In  effect,  the 
lands  conveniently  situated  in  Pennsylvania 
are  for  the  most  part  inhabited ;  still,  however, 
good  tracts  may  be  found  in  the  counties  of 
Luzerne  and  Northampton,  not  too  remote.- 
from  the  circle  of  commerce.  The  roads  now 
laid  out,  and  in  part  completed  through  the 
states  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  to  con- 
nect these  lands  with  the  city  of  New  York, 
together  with  those  which  open  a  communica- 


I 


34 


NOTES  ON  THE 


illlv 


tion  with  Pliiladelphia  to  great  part  of  them, 
must  rapidly  increase  their  value.  The  inte- 
riour  of  the  state  of  New  York  presents  the 
fairest  scene  for  operations  on  land,  because  it 
lies  within  the  influence  of  commerce.  A  bare 
inspection  of  the  map  will  show  that  in  going 
round  by  water  from  Oswego,  on  Lake  Onta- 
rio, to  St.  Regis,  on  the  St.  Laurence,  and 
thence  by  land  to  Lake  Champlain,  the  whole 
course  is  within  about  fifty  leagues  of  Water- 
ford,  a  village  at  the  confluence  of  the  Hud- 
son and  Mohawk  rivers,  to  which  sloops 
ascend  from  New  York.  Thus,  not  to  men- 
tion the  facilities  which  the  river  St.  Laurence 
presents,  produce,  when  the  roads  now  in  ope- 
ration shall  be  completed,  may  be  brought 
from  the  parts  most  remote  to  the  tide  waters 
of  Hudson's  river  for  twenty  dollars  a  ton, 
without  the  aid  which  is  derived  from  the 
Mohawk  river  and  lake  Champlain.  In  going 
west  of  a  line  from  Oswego,  to  where  Tioga 
river  falls  into  the  Susquehannah,  we  recede 
from  the  influence  of  commerce.     The  num- 


1i( 


UNITED  STATES. 


as 


ber  of  coi  moLiities  which  will  bear  tt  nsr^- 
tation,  is  Uiminishc  J  by  the  distance.  '  om 
Oswego  to  Albany,  and  i  m  Ti*  ;;;a  to  ^^^w 
York,  is  about  the  sam  distaiv  i,  and  the 
Hudson  running  nearly  parallel  to  tlie  line  from 
Oswego  to  Tioga,  the  facility  of  navigation 
through  the  whole  intermediate  space  is  nearly 
equal.  It  must  not,  however,  be  forgotten 
that  a  broad  tract  of  mountains  extends  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  from  Lake  Champlain 
to  the  northeastern  comer  of  Pennsylvania. 
These  render  the  space  they  occupy  less  valu- 
able, and  render  the  communications  more 
difficult ;  but  during  the  last  five  years,  so 
many  turnpike  roads  have  been  made,  and  so 
many  more  are  now  making,  that  the  trans- 
portation will  soon  be  easy  throughout,  saving 
always  the  effect  of  distance.  Nature  pre- 
sents also  great  facilities  for  inland  navigation. 
That  of  the  Susquehannah  has  been  practised 
with  success  from  above  Tioga  down  to  Balti- 
more. That  of  the  Mohawk  is  so  much  im- 
proved that  the  merchant  at  Utica  sells  goods 


f 


i.mjJMfT. 


p 


36 


NOTES  ON   THE 


as  cheap  as  at  Albany,  and  gives  nearly  the 
same  price  for  procliicc.  It  must  be  noted 
also  that  the  mountains  last  mentioned  do  not 
form  a  continued  chain,  but  lie  in  detached 
masses.  Those  who  ascend  the  Mohawk  river 
to  Rome  in  a  batteau  are  already  on  the  western 
side  of  the  mountains  and  can  in  the  same  boat 
descend  by  Wood  Creek,  Oneida  Lake,  and 
Oswego  River,  to  Lake  Ontario. 


I 


Hitherto  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Laurence  have 
been  unnoticed,  but  they  are  eminent,  and  the 
more  so  from  that  constant  fulness  of  the 
stream  which  has  already  been  mentioned. 
From  the  sea  port  of  Montreal  to  the  mouth  of 
Lake  Ontario,  merchandise  is  transported  for 
one  dollar  per  hundred  weight,  a  small  addi- 
tion to  the  value.  The  navigation  downward 
is  much  less  expensive,  and  by  means  of  it, 
timber,  which  in  clearing  many  parts  of  Ame- 
rica must  be  destroyed,  can  be  turned  to  good 
account.     Many  productions  sell  as  high  at 


UNITED  STATES. 


Montreal  as  at  New  York ;  some  higher. 
From  the  hills  southeast  of  the  St.  Laurence 
pour  down  numerous  streams  which  give  value 
as  well  as  health  and  beauty  to  that  country. 
The  coincidence  of  these  things,  with  an  un- 
common fertility  of  soil,  have  induced  num- 
bars  to  come  in  from  the  eastern  states ;  and 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  all  the 
land  fit  for  culture  will  be  speedily  settled. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  manner  in  which 
operations  of  the  sort  now  contemplated  are  to 
be  performed.  And  first,  the  purchase  may  be 
either  in  large  tracts  of  uncertain  quality,  or  in 
small  tracts,  the  soil  of  which  is  known  to 
be  good.  He  who  purchases  a  small  tract  of 
choice  land,  must  pay  a  large  price,  but  he 
has  the  moral  certainty  of  a  speedy  sale.  He 
who  purchases  a  large  tract  unexplored  pays 
less,  but  much  of  it  may  be  bad,  and  the 
sales  will  not  speedily  be  completed.  Opi- 
nions on  this  subject  vary;  but  experience 
favours  the  purchase  of  large  tracts  at  a  mode- 


i 


I 

1' 


i) 

,1, 


)((, 


38 


NOTES  ON   THE 


rate  price.  In  this  case  there  is  less  to  be 
apprehended  from  the  mistake  or  misrepresen- 
tation of  surveyors,  and  frequently  the  pro- 
portion of  good  land  is  so  great,  that  if  made 
to  bear  the  whole  price,  it  will  be  as  cheap  as 
the  small  tract,  leaving  the  inferiour  quality  a 
clear  profit.  Moreover,  when  the  best  lands 
are  sold  and  in  cultivation,  those  which  adjoin 
them  find  as  good  and  sometimes  a  better 
market. 


!■,,, 


Supposing  the  purchase  made,  there  are 
several  modes  of  sale.  First,  the  land  may 
be  sold  as  it  was  bought,  in  mass,  at  an 
advanced  price,  which  is  the  easiest,  but 
not  the  most  profitable  mode.  Secondly, 
It  may  be  retailed  to  settlers  by  an  agent  on 
the  spot,  who  is  to  receive  a  fixed  salary 
or  a  commission.  The  landholder  who 
gives  a  salary  to  his  agent  is  certain  of 
nodiing  but  the  expense.  He  will  generally 
be  pestered  with  costly  projects  of  roads, 
mills,  and  viiiages,  ^vhich  seldom  answer  any 


UNITED  STATES. 


39 


good  purpose^  The  roads,  if  not  laid  out  judi- 
ciously will  not  be  travelled;  in  which  case  they 
soon  grow  up  in  bushes  and  become  im- 
passable. The  mills  must  have  millers, 
and  the  millers  must  have  salaries,  which 
they  are  careful  to  receive,  but  neglect 
their  mills  for  the  sake  of  hunting,  fishing, 
or  other  idle  pursuits ;  whereas  the  settler 
who  builds  a  mill  for  his  own  account 
attends  to  it  for  his  own  interest.  Houses 
built  by  a  landlord  arc  generally  occupied  by 
vagabonds.  The  industrious  prefer  living  on 
their  own  land  in  their  own  houses.  But 
bad  settlers  repel  good  ones.  If  the  agent 
be  paid  by  a  commission,  he  will  still  hanker 
after  expensive  establishments,  tending,  as  he 
supposes,  to  increase  the  sales,  and  at  any 
rate  to  give  him  an  air  of  importance.  He 
will  moreover  pay  too  little  attention  to  the 
moral  character  of  settlers,  which  is  neverthe- 
less an  important  circumstance ;  for  land  al- 
ways sells  higher  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
sober,  honest,  industrious  people,  than  in  that 


It.. 

i 


'1 


I 


40 


NOTES  ON  THE 


of  the  lazy  and  profligate.  Whichever  of 
these  two  modes  be  adopted,  the  agent,  if  not 
perfectly  honest,  may  sell  the  best  land  to 
friends,  and  share  with  them  in  a  profit  on  the 
re-sale.  To  avoid  these  inconveniences,  a 
third  mode  has  been  adopted.  A  contract  is 
made  with  a  capable  person,  and  the  lands  are 
fixed  at  a  price  agreed  on.  He  superintends 
the  sale  to  setders,  which  is  not  to  be  under  a 
price  also  agreed  on,  and  for  his  compensation 
receives  one  half  of  what  remains  after  paying 
to  the  owner  the  price  first  mentioned  with  the 
interest.  By  this  means,  the  interest  of  the 
agent  is  so  intimately  connected  with  that  of 
his  employer  that  he  can  seldom  promote 
one  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Whatever 
mode  of  sale  be  adopted,  these  things  are  to 
be  remarked :  first,  the  choice  of  farms  and 
of  sites  for  mills,  must  be  given  freely  to  the 
first  comers  on  moderate  terms  and  long  cre- 
dit, because  the  future  price  will  depend  much 
on  the  improvements  they  make.  Secondly, 
in  the  progress  of  settlement,  prices  must  be 


UNITED    STATES. 


41 


raised  and  credit  shortened,  so  that,  having 
taken  care  that  the  first  settlers  were  good, 
idlers  and  paupers  may  be  kept  off.  Thirdly, 
the  landlord  must  make  no  reservation  of  par- 
ticular spots,  because  he  would  thereby  dis- 
gust settlers  and  turn  them  away ;  whereas 
he  can  always  get  back  any  part  which  may 
strike  his  fancy,  by  giving  a  little  more  land 
in  tlie  vicinity,  and  a  fair  compensation  for 
the  expense  of  clearing.  Besides,  a  choice 
of  situation  is  more  easily  made  after  the 
country  is  opened  than  before.  Finally,  when 
the  sales  are  sufficient  to  reimburse  the  capi- 
tal employed,  with  the  interest,  it  is  wise  to 
pause  and  let  the  effect  of  cultivation  be  felt. 
Purchasers  become  eager,  and  prices  rise,  so 
that  what  remains  of  good  land  will  sell  well : 
the  bad  should  be  kept.  It  will  in  a  certain 
time  become  of  great  value,  because  settlers 
cut  down  and  destroy  timber  as  fast  as  they 
can,  counting  on  the  purchase  of  wood  lots 
when  their  own  farms  shall  be  stript  of  trees. 
To  get  these  lots  they  will  pay  three  times  as 


p 


42 


NOTES  ON   THE 


much  for  bad  land  as  the  good  cost  them ;  but 
the,  landlord  had  better  not  sell,  but  kt  thejn 
have  wood  at  a  low  price,  until  they  are  aU 
in  want  of  fuel,  and  then  a  permanent  revenue 
muiy  be  raised  from  the  forest.  This,  by  the 
by,  is  a  better  provision  for  posterity  than 
to  leave  a  large  tract  unsettled.  In  that  case 
intruders  go  on,  careless  of  title,  whom  it  is 
difficult  and  expensive  to  renv)ve. 

There  remains  another  mode  by  which  lands 
niay  be  disposed  of,  which  has  not  been  hi- 
therto practised,  and  for  which,  indeed,  the 
country  was  not  ripe.  A  man  may  purchase 
from  twenty  to  sixty  thoujsand  acres,  and  se- 
lect foV  his  special  domain  in  the  centre,  as 
much  as  he  shiUl  think  proper.  After  making 
an  accurate  survey,  obtaining  good  inforraar 
tioo,  and  duly  considering  all  circumstances, 
he  may  fix  an  agent  at  the,  place  proper  for  a 
village,  give  away  to  good  tradesmen,  some 
building  lots,  and  (with  each)  a  smaU  lot  for 
p^tujije,  it^<ni  sell  four  or  five  tliousa»d  acres 


UNITED  STATES. 


43 


in  the  neighbourhood,  and  stop  the  sales,  di- 
recting his  agent  to  let  the  remainder  at  a 
low  rent  for  a  term  of  one  and  twenty  years,  on 
condition  to  plant  an  orchard  and  put  the  land 
in  good  fence.  These  farms,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  lease,  would  probably  rent  for  one  dol- 
lar per  acre.  The  forest  reserved  in  the  cen- 
tre would  also  become  a  source  of  revenue, 
to  which  effect,  when  the  tenants  come  to  want 
wood,  it  would  be  proper  to  let  them  take  for 
nothing  what  lies  down,  and  for  a  small  con- 
sideration, the  old  and  decaying  trees,  together 
with  all  which  stand  on  the  avenues  to  be 
pierced  for  beauty  and  convenience.  These 
trees  being  cut  in  the  summer  solstice,  and 
their  cattle  feeding  gratuitously  in  the  woods, 
the  growth  of  under  brush  would  be  kept 
down.  Those  who  adjoin  the  forest  also, 
would,  for  their  own  sakes,  keep  up  a  good 
fence  against  it,  and  thus  the  landlord,  making 
no  expense  and  conferring  favours,  would  fitid 
his  park  brought  into  excellent  order. 


w 


44 


NOTES  ON  THE 


!■'!' 


This  sketch  has  run  to  such  length,  that 
one    important   subject   must  remain  almost 
untouched.     Still,  however,  a  few  words  on 
the  government  of  America  cannot  be  dis- 
pensed with.     It  is  the  fashion  at  present  to 
decry  republicks,  and  so  far  as  democracies 
afe  concerned,  no  discreet  man  will  object  to 
the  censure.  But  pure  democracy  is  rare,  and 
is  rather  a  destruction  than  a  form  of  republican 
government.     It  is  the  passage  to  monarchy. 
It  never  did,  and  never  can  exist,  but  for  a 
moment,  and  that  too  is  a  moment  of  agony. 
Let  ^'lose  then,  who  lavish  their  applause  on 
monarchy,  consider  that  the  prevalence  of  de- 
mocratick  confusion  can  at  last  but  establish 
their  favourite  system.     Ere  this  can  be  done, 
however,  America  must  be  cursed  with  more 
mob   than   at    present.     A  nation  of  land- 
holders will  not  easily  permit  themselves  to 
be    ruled  by    the   scum  of  other  countries 
poured  into  their  large  towns  to  ferment  un- 
der tlie  influence  of  designing  scoundrels.     It 
seems  more  likely  that  they  will,  when  taught 


^N? 


UNITED  STATES. 


45 


by  experience  the  danger  of  democracy,  make 
such  change  in  the  government  as  circum- 
stances may  require.     Causes   must  precede 
effects.     The  remedy  cannot  be  adopted  be- 
fore the  evil  is  felt.     The  sick  may  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  take  medicine  though  bitter,  but 
those  who  enjoy  health  will  not  swallow  drugs 
by  way  of  antidote.      That  America,  when 
fully  peopled,  may  become  a  monarchy,  is  not 
improbable ;  but  in  the  mean  time  she  is  free, 
prosperous,  and  happy.     Some  indeed  there 
are,  who,  pluming  themselves  on  the  posses- 
sion of  a  little  wit  or  a  little  money,  claim  to 
be  what  they  call  the  better  sort  of  people,  and 
deal  out  abundant  invective  against  what  they 
are  pleased  to  denominate  jacobinism,  under 
which  term  they  comprehend  almost  every 
tenet  of  freed'' .ii.      These  men  tell  us  we 
should  choose  a  king,   as  being  a  handsome 
capital  to  decorate  the  column  of  freedom. 
But  that  choice  is  not  so  easy  a  thing  as  they 
imagine.     Where  a  crown  descends  from  fa- 
ther to  son  by  immemorial  usage,  there  is  no 


46 


NOTES  ON  TRS 


,  't 


difficulty  in  making  kings ;  but  those  who 
begin  the  trade  have  an  up-hill  road  to  travel, 
equally  difficult  and  dangerous.  The  black- 
guards of  a  country  will  indeed  readily  hail 
king  Log,  though  they  prefer  king  Crane,  in 
the  hope  of  sharing  the  plunder  of  a  spoiler ; 
but  the  wealthy,  the  eminent,  and  the  consi- 
derate, will  not  rashly  choose  a  master,  nor 
tamely  submit  to  one  which  others  have 
chosen.  Admitting,  moreover,  that  it  were 
easy,  is  it  desirable  to  establish  monarchy  ? 
The  idea  of  a  French  republick  was  no  doubt 
ridiculous,  and  the  attempt  fruitful  in  abo- 
minations ;  to  overturn  monarchy  in  Britain 
would  be  as  absurd  and  nearly  as  pernicious, 
and  to  propose  a  Russian  or  Prussian  demo- 
cracy, would  be  as  wise  a  project  as  that  of 
the  Roman  emperour,  who  wished  to  make  a 
consul  of  his  horse ;  but  let  those  who  are  so 
proud  of  the  monarchical  trappings  under 
which  they  prance,  and  who  are  so  prodigal 
of  censure  on  the  (pinions  and  feelings  of 
America,  show  what  has  been  done  by  royal 


UNITED  STATES. 


47 


governments  to  suppress  that  hideous  spirit  of 
jacobinism  which  is  the  theme  of  their  abun- 
dant declamation.  One  nation  has  indeed 
stood  forth  the  bulwark  of  mankind.  But 
that  nation  is  governed  more  by  an  aristocracy 
than  by  a  monarch.  According  to.  die  En- 
glish law,  the  king  can  do  no  wrong— a  modest 
expression  of  the  fact,  that  he  can  do  nothing. 
He  can,  it  is  true,  choose  ministers,  but  then 
his  part  is  performed.  The  rest  is  theirs. 
Each  and  every  of  them  for  each  and  eveny 
act  of  governmfiEtt,  is.  liable  to  be  tried  by  the 
peers  on  impeachmenU  of  the  commons.  They 
are  thus  accountable  t®  the  aristocracy :  for  if 
the  peers  2xe  cloathed  with  the  national' dignity, 
it  is  the  property  which  makes  aod  sits  ia  tiae 
house  of  commons.  So  little,^  indeed,  is  their 
king  considered  by  them  as  an  efficient  part  of 
the  government,  that  the  act  in  which  he  per- 
sonally appears,  and  which  of  all  others  seems 
most  especially  his  own,  the  speech  which  he 
makes,  is  considered  and  treated  in  their  par- 
liament, as  the  speech  of  his  minister.     And 


48 


NOTES  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


m 


W 


so  is  the  fact.  The  British  monarchy,  if  mo- 
narchy it  must  be  called,  is  certainly  a  good 
government,  well  suited  to  that  country. 
Whether  it  would  suit  America  would  be 
known  only  by  experiment.  Probably  it 
would  not,  but  certainly  it  could  not  now  be 
established.  If  we  inquire  by  what  power 
it  is  sustained  in  England,  we  shall  find  it  is 
the  good  sense  and  mild  spirit  of  Englishmen, 
the  same  power  by  which  it  was  established. 
A  similar  spirit,  with  a  fair  portion  of  common 
sense,  induced  the  Americans  to  adopt  that 
system  under  which  they  live,  and  it  may 
reasonably  be  expected,  that  a  continuance  of 
the  same  mind  and  temper  will  preserve  to 
them,  for  a  long  time,  the  blessings  of  order, 
liberty,  and  law. 


FINIS. 


